COMMON SWALLOW 37 
When these feuds are finally settled, they address 
themselves diligently to the great work and build a 
rather big nest. They are not neat or skilful workers, 
but merely stuff a great quantity of straw and other 
light materials into the breeding-hole, and line the 
nest with feathers and horsehair. On this soft but 
disorderly bed the female lays from five to seven pure 
white eggs. 
All those species that are liable at any time to 
become the victims of raptorial birds are very much 
beholden to this Swallow, as he is the most vigilant 
sentinel they possess. When the hurrying Falcon is 
still far off, and the other birds unsuspicious of his 
approach, the Swallows suddenly rush up into the 
sky with a wild rapid flight to announce the evil 
tidings with distracted screams. The alarm spreads 
swift as light through the feathered tribes, which on 
all sides are in terrified commotion, crouching in the 
grass, plunging into thickets, or mounting upwards 
to escape by flight. I have often wondered at this, 
since this swift-winged and quick-doubling little bird 
is the least likely to fall a prey himself. 
They possess another habit very grateful to the 
mind of every early riser. At the first indication of 
dawn, and before any other wild bird has broken the 
profound silence of night, multitudes of this Swallow, 
as if at the signal of a leader, begin their singing and 
twittering, at the same time mounting upwards into 
the quiet dusky sky. Their notes at this hour differ 
from the hurried twittering uttered during the day, 
being softer and more prolonged, and, sounding far 
